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Kasich appealing to faith in hope to expand Medicaid

Gov. John Kasich isn't just highlighting dollars to persuade state lawmakers to support extending Medicaid coverage to thousands of more low-income state residents. He's also appealing to their faith.

The Republican, taking the lessons he says he's learned from the Bible, is reminding his fellow GOP legislators that the weak and vulnerable should not be left behind.

The Bible runs his life "not just on Sunday, but just about every day," he said in his annual State of the State address on Tuesday.

"And I gotta tell you, I can't look at the disabled, I can't look at the poor, I can't look at the mentally ill, I can't look at the addicted and think we ought to ignore them," he told the audience of about 1,700 lawmakers, state officials and other guests.

How much weight his pitch carries depends on whether conservative lawmakers can get past their worries about the federal law and how much it could cost.

Kasich proposed the Medicaid expansion in his two-year budget plan released this month. He's framed his decision as recapturing Ohio taxpayers' federal money.

The federal government will pay the entire cost of the Medicaid expansion for the first three years, gradually phasing down to 90 percent, still well above the state's current level of 64 percent.

The state would see $2.4 billion from the federal government to cover those newly eligible for Medicaid over the next two years beginning in July and $13 billion over the next seven years, according to the Kasich administration. Roughly 366,000 Ohio residents would be up for coverage under the expansion beginning in 2014.

Many Republicans are averse to Democratic President Barack Obama's signature health care law and resistant to expanding government programs.

The Medicaid expansion is one of the key components of the federal Affordable Care Act. Of the nearly 30 million people expected to gain insurance coverage under the law, about half would get it from the Medicaid expansion.

Kasich will have to convince Republicans who control the state Legislature to back the plan despite the fact that many dislike the federal law's mandated coverage and campaigned against it months ago.

The governor entreated them in Tuesday's speech to set politics aside as they weigh their choices.

"Put it in your family," Kasich said. "Put somebody that is in your family who becomes the wayward child. And they come home one day, they can't get a job. Put it on your doorstep, and you'll understand how hard it is."

It's not surprising that Kasich would use his Christian faith to try to get lawmakers to see other sides of an issue.

Kasich was raised Catholic and worships regularly in an Anglican church. For more than 20 years, he's met every other Monday with a small group of men to study the Bible. And he's written a book about how the experience has helped him in his search for answers.

The governor on Tuesday looked out to lawmakers in the audience and said he understood their position.

"I respect the decision you're all going to make," Kasich said. "I know it's controversial. Just please examine your conscious, keep an open mind, and I think we can work and get there. I sure hope so."

Even those who look to their religious beliefs for guidance, such as state Rep. Jim Buchy, say there are other factors to consider.

"I've been reared in a Christian home, and I've tried to live in that manner," Buchy, a Greenville Republican, said in an interview. "My faith has a bearing on every decision I make about every subject we deal with around here."

Buchy said he hasn't made up his mind on whether the state should expand Medicaid. The long-time lawmaker said he's still researching the idea.

He said for him the decision comes down to three words: "Follow the money."

"What we have to weigh is at what level can we provide services and still be able to pay for it without upsetting the plan to grow the economy and create more jobs," Buchy said.

House Speaker William Batchelder and Senate President Keith Faber haven't endorsed the Medicaid proposal. They say their GOP caucuses will need time to evaluate it.

"We want to know that the federal government is going to live up to its commitment," said Batchelder, a Medina Republican.

Batchelder, who said he belongs to the same church as Kasich, acknowledged after Tuesday's speech that the governor's pitch was compelling.

Asked whether it would strike a chord with lawmakers, Batchelder said, "Oh, sure. No question."

Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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